First pan-European presentation of the Anti-Bullying certification Standard developed by the European Anti-Bullying Network-EAN, "The Smile of the child" & EUROCERT S.A.
26 October 2021
PRESS RELEASE
Agia Paraskevi, 26 October 2021
First pan-European presentation of the Anti-Bullying certification Standard developed by the European Anti-Bullying Network-EAN, "The Smile of the child" & EUROCERT S.A.
The European Antibullying Certification was successfully launched by the collaborating bodies "European Anti-Bullying Network - EAN”, "The Smile of the Child" and "EUROCERT". The first pan-European presentation of the Certification was locally held online under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Education & Religious Affairs on Tuesday 26 October at 12.00 pm.
As demonstrated by the questions and comments during the live broadcast, the live broadcast was attended with great interest by more than 400 representatives, including Academics, Professors, Education Directors, School Principals & Officers, Health Education Officers, Environmental Education Officers, Cultural Affairs & Sport Officers, Educational Project Coordinators, Public & Private School Representatives.
Mr. Costas Yannopoulos, President of the Organization of "The Smile of the Child" and President of the "European Antibullying Network" - EAN referred to the important role of the network in the development of the Standard, pointing out at the opening of the event: "Today marks a very important milestone, since we envisioned this launch several years ago. I am very proud that in cooperation with EUROCERT we have today reached the point to present the Anti-Bullying Certification Standard. Starting in Greece, we aim for the model to constitute a valuable map in the journey to combat bullying across Europe. The Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs actively supports this initiative and many other of our efforts in Greece, always standing by us in the fight to defend the Rights of the Child. We are deeply honored that our launch was set under the auspices of the Ministry of Education & Religious Affairs. We have to overcome great challenges. The model we propose is a focal point for the formulation of the solution, as it provides a clear process and specific tools for schools and non-educational organizations in the fight against bullying.”
Mr. Stefanos Alevizos, Psychologist (M.Ed., PhDc) at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children of the Organization "The Smile of the Child", conducted a scientific review of the problem of bullying, emphasizing: "I would like us to focus on three important points:
● To recognize behaviors that constitute bullying, it is important to understand that fun happens between friends, unlike bullying that can’t happen between friends. In meaningful friendly relationships there is no place for behaviors that breach boundaries and create embarrassment.
● Many awareness programs have been addressed to parents, teachers and children. However, there is still a tendency to generalize all behaviors among children and to consider them “school bullying”, thereby leading the definition to miss its true meaning. It is important for professionals to define an intimidating behavior as bullying when all three elements of intent, repeatability and power imbalance are present. Let's not get ahead of ourselves in describing a behaviour as “bullying” if that is not the case in essence, because children are affected; they are subconsciously inclined to fulfil “labels”, and if we consider them “bullied”, they will begin to interpret everything around them from this perspective.
● Bullying is now classified as a public health problem by researchers, because it was found that adults with a history of bullying in their childhood, experience negative symptoms as they get older, suffering from depression, psychosocial difficulties, swing moods, a sense of insecurity, psychosomatic disorders, higher levels of stress, food disorders and, even worse, suicidal thoughts.”
Mr. Takis THEOFANOPOULOS, Executive Director of EUROCERT, analyzed the Standard and the certification process, stressing: "Today's event marks the beginning of a pan-European effort to combat bullying in a structured way, which is of Greek inspiration. The phenomenon of bullying and violence among minors, happening not only in schools, could be referred to as the "Civil War" which takes place between minors belonging to or attending the same educational entity. This undeclared but very real “war”, produces no winners and losers, because in that case the perpetrators are at the same time victims. The Anti-Bullying Certification Standard is the result of a collective effort by social scientists from many European countries, members of the European Antibullying Network (ΕΑΝ) and EUROCERT, while it constitutes an international innovation to tackle this complex phenomenon. The Standard codifies the requirements, which an organized structure should take into account, and integrate them into a Management System, with particular emphasis on prevention and the formulation of a coherent framework for dealing with bullying. The standard allows schools, or other organized structures of formal or informal education, to use the European Anti-Bullying Certification Logo, if they are successfully evaluated and compliant with the principles and practices described in the Standard.”
At the close of the online event Mr. Theofanopoulos presented the certification logo which will be used in their communication by the bodies that will be positively evaluated and will succeed in receiving the European Antibullying Certification - EANCert.
About the European Anti-Bullying Network - EAN
The Organization's commitment to any phenomenon of intra-school violence and bullying began in 2007 and was consolidated in 2014, when the European Anti - Bullying Network (EAN) was established. Today EAN consists of 21 members from 14 European countries and "The Smile of the Child" holds the presidency for the fourth consecutive time.
The aim of the network is to coordinate actions and exchange good practices at a European level, to develop a common European strategy, raise awareness among the general public and empower all stakeholders - organized structures, children, parents, guardians & teachers - to effectively prevent and tackle bullying.
One of the most important campaigns organized by the Network was "Talk Now". In Greece alone, over 10,000 students and 420 schools participated in the #milatora2021 (*) campaign.
(*) “Mila tora” means “Talk Now” in English
